This morning I finished a pickguard I made out of Green Abalone, for a Resonator Electric I am making for a client. It is a lovely and magical material, that comes alive in light. The slightest motion of the guitar causes flashing and rippling of the 3d details. First, an ultra-thin sheet of abalone is made from glued-up strips, and is epoxied to a black plastic blank. This thin sheet saves a tremendous amount of this beautiful natural material. Epoxy is also spread evenly across the top of the sheet. Once dry, it is sanded level. Next, the shape is cut out on a band-saw, then mounted to a router template, and cut-out precisely on a shaper table. From there, hand sanding and polishing is performed, and we're done! The thin epoxy coating is virtually invisible, and the effect is that of naked abalone; it has a protective layer on top however, one can simply not see it.
